Boukas / Santos Neto Duo

Richard and Jovino Santos Neto with Hermeto Pascoal in Jabbur, c. 2001 CLICK photo to see Boukas Lecture on Hermeto's music.

Balaio CD

Front cover of BALAIO, 2001 release of the Duo featuring their original compositions and those of Hermeto Pascoal.

"The overall mood of Balaio is one of effortless, spontaneous improvisation and subtle rhythms that spring organically from the melodic structure of the works– where the Brazil of yesterday and tomorrow meet and mingle in joyous harmony." JazzIz

Jovino and Boukas rehearsing for the recording of Balaio.

Richard Boukas and Jovino Santos Neto met in 1997 in New York City and formed their acclaimed Duo in 1998.

Jovino was Hermeto Pascoal's pianist from 1977-93, releasing several groundbreaking albums with Hermeto's classic Grupo. Boukas had been studying and appreciating Jovino's work for years, documenting his playing as part of numerous full-group transcriptions of Hermeto's recordings.

The Duo performed frequently on both the east and west coast (Jovino moved to Seattle from Brazil in 1993) and presented educational residencies delving into various aspects of contemporary Brazilian music. They remained active until 2005 and continue to be close colleagues and promulgators of Brazilian music.

BALAIO  (2001) is the definitive studio recording of Boukas's Duo with Jovino Santos Neto, pianist-composer who was an integral member of Hermeto Pascoal's Group from 1977-93. Featuring their originals and music of Pascoal, Boukas is playing nylon string guitar, cavaquinho, acoustic bass guitar and scat vocals. The intuitive connection between Jovino and Boukas is uncanny, full of musical moments which sound planned but were totally spontaneous.